EASTER HAMS TRIVIA

The custom of eating ham around Easter actually goes back before Christianity, and had a practical origin. According to ‘Imponderables’ author David Feldman, at the beginning of spring fresh meat was not readily available. Pagans would bury fresh pork legs in the sand by the sea during the fall and winter. The pork was cured by the constant "marinating" of the salt water. Come spring, the preserved meat was cooked over wood fires.

Slaughtering pigs in the fall would produce perfect spring hams.

Others believe that ham became traditional because the pig is a symbol of prosperity in many cultures.